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Recent posts

Articles & News

View Post
  • Civic Life

2022: A Year in Renew, Continued!

  • Ben Speggen
  • December 15, 2022
A continued look back at the stories of local-level ideas that are driving and inspiring renewal nationwide. 
View Post
  • Civic Life

2022: A Year in Renew

  • Ben Speggen
  • December 14, 2022
A look back at some of the stories of local-level ideas that are driving and inspiring renewal nationwide. 
Youth in Dillsburg share their voices through drawings. Photo courtesy of Dillsburg Heart & Soul.
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement

How Local Governments Can Engage Residents of All Ages

  • Jordan Sandman
  • December 14, 2022
When community members can't, or don't, or won't, go to town halls to attend local government meetings, some local elected officials have found a way to go to their constituents.
Official graphic for the "Reimagine Rural" podcast. (Source: Brookings Institution)
View Post
  • Civic Life

New Podcast Highlights Transformations Taking Place In Rural America

  • Kristi Eaton, The Daily Yonder
  • December 13, 2022
“Reimagine Rural” from the Brookings Institution showcases communities across America that are in the midst of renewal.
Logo for "Inside Our Towns" with black background.
View Post
  • Civic Life

Inside Our Towns: Josh Fryday, California’s Chief Service Officer

  • Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
  • December 7, 2022
National division might grab headlines, but the story of uniting citizens through service in California is growing.
One of the electric tractor models offered by Soletrac. (Source: Soletrac Facebook)
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

Push for Electric Ag Equipment in Oregon is Led by Independent Groups

  • Claire Carlson, The Daily Yonder
  • December 6, 2022
With volatility being an integral part of farming, electric ag equipment could bring some predictability to farmers’ energy use and consumption, say experts.
Logo for "Inside Our Towns" with black background.
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement

Inside Our Towns: Scott and Tiffany Whaley

  • Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
  • November 21, 2022
Feeding, sustaining, and building community in Kershaw, South Carolina through KARE.
Ezekiel Jones, Operational Coordinator, coaxes the animals out to pasture in the morning. GrowingChange's donkey, Miss Easter, was born on Easter Sunday five years ago.
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

Unlocking Potential

  • Ben Speggen
  • November 16, 2022
At-risk youth in North Carolina hold the keys to flipping a decommissioned prison into a sustainable farm and community asset.
Scott and Tiffany Whaley stop for a picture in front of the old Kershaw Train Depot renewed as office spaces and a museum. Photo by Michelle Ellia.
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement

Kershaw Invests in Community with New Ideas in Old Spaces

  • Ben Speggen
  • November 8, 2022
A train depot that’s a museum. A bank branch building that’s become a library. Another former bank that is serving as an early education center. Here is how this South Carolina town is repurposing buildings of the past to build up its future.
Logo for the Cedar Rapids Metro Alliance
View Post
  • Events

Our Towns – Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance

  • Michelle Ellia
  • October 26, 2022
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jim and Deb will be the featured guests during an hour and a half panel with Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell and Downtown SSMID (Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District)…
Porcello House on Main Street in Mount Blanchard OH (Deborah Fallows)
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement

How One Small Ohio Town Practices Democracy

  • Deborah Fallows
  • October 24, 2022
Small is big in Mount Blanchard, Ohio. The town approached change in two ways, and Deborah Fallows reports on the impact she and her husband, James, saw during their travels there.
Logo for "Inside Our Towns" with black background.
View Post
  • Economic Development

Inside Our Towns: Tighe Bullock

  • Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
  • October 18, 2022
Evan Sanford catches up with Tighe Bullock, the accountant, lawyer, downtown developer, and construction contractor, on his latest work in Charleston, West Virginia.
A young woman presents to a group of youth who circle her.
View Post
  • Libraries

Global Effort Takes Libraries to the People

  • Jordan Sandman
  • October 15, 2022
Libraries Without Borders finds innovative ways to meet community residents where they are to provide equitable access to the range of services today’s libraries offer.
View Post
  • Events

How America’s Towns are Writing the Future of the Country and More

  • Michelle Ellia
  • October 13, 2022
Our Towns is proud to showcase our latest reporting in person in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Jefferson Educational Society’s Global Summit. We will focus on local heroes who are part of…
View Post
  • Events

Betsy K. McCreight Lecture in the Humanities

  • Michelle Ellia
  • October 13, 2022
On Thursday, Oct. 20, Deborah and James Fallows will be in Charleston, West Virginia to deliver the Betsy K. McCreight Lecture in the Humanities. The event honors the late Board…
Jim and Deb Fallows sitting in front of a bookshelf.
View Post
  • Colleges & Universities

What Do Colleges Do For Their Communities – and the Country?

  • Ben Speggen
  • October 13, 2022
‘What can colleges do for the country?’ is an important question to ask, and a powerful theme explored in The Washington Monthly’s annual college rankings issue. This conversation was hosted by New…

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